Taj Mahal
by scifiromance
Summary: Bella runs and hides. Of course, Jake finds her. One shot. Several years pre-Twilight.


**A/n: I don't own anything related to the Twilight series of books and movies.**

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Bella sniffed miserably as she blinked back her tears. Unfortunately, that drew even more of the dust, both settled and floating around her, into her nose and she sneezed violently. She started to lift her sleeve to her face to rub her nose and her reddened eyes but thought better of it when she saw that not only had the grime ingrained itself into the fabric but it was damp too. Almost as damp as her backside. She shifted, trying in vain to find a dry spot on the wet plastic floor. Her neck was starting to ache as her head had to be pressed against the roof, and her shoulders were squeezed by the walls. The sky blue window shutters pressed into her shoulder blades. Way to pick a place to hide Bella! She chastened herself irritably, sitting in the snow under the trees would've been better than this! She already knew, had almost as soon as she'd wedged herself in here, that she wouldn't been able to get back out. Rachel and Rebecca would have more hysterics at her expense then. Even Jake…

"Bells!" As if thinking of him had summoned him up, Jacob Black's voice reached her loudly, ricocheting off the walls of the playhouse. "Bells?" His voice was closer now, and curious. Bella couldn't help but consider the bright, easy way he said that pet name. He was the only one who still used it, other than her dad. And Charlie always seemed so sad and resigned, awkward even, when he called her that. Suddenly his face appeared in front of her, filling the door opening. Again she wondered how she'd managed to fit in here, desperation and determination probably, and could see that Jake was thinking the same thing as he met her eye questioningly. Well, everyone was always saying she was small for her age, almost as often as they opined that Jake seemed older than ten. Jake didn't look incredulous for long though, soon his big smile, glowing with relief, outshone everything. "Found you!" He declared breathlessly before settling back on his haunches, just avoiding the snow. "You okay?"

Bella blushed as she found she had to sniff again, affected by his gentle concern. "Yeah." She mumbled, shifting again until her hair fell in front of her face like a protective veil. "How'd you find me?"

"I looked around, then I remembered you always wanted to play in this house when we first got it." Jake replied, then ducked his head a little himself, "And I heard you sneeze." He admitted.

"Oh." Bella choked on a laugh despite herself and began to relax, looking around wryly. "It isn't as great as the Fisher Price ads made it look when I was five." She conceded, "But then I _was_ only five and Rachel and Rebecca would never let me in, so I wished for it even more…"

"The only thing Becca and Rach liked about the place was banning anyone else from playing in it." Jake muttered, "They always decided to forget that the only reason _they_ got it is because Leah hated it so Sue offered it to them."

Bella frowned quizzically, trying to picture the tomboyish Leah asking for a playhouse. "This was Leah's?"

"Yeah, for like one day." Jake snorted, "Her rich uncle who she sees once a year, the one that works on the oil fields in Canada, got one for her and one for her cousin, Emily. She threw a tantrum because she didn't want to be the same as boring old Emily."

Bella listened to this with wide eyes. "That's not very nice, or very polite to her uncle." She said in a small voice.

"No…" Jake agreed, "But then her uncle _is_ a snobby show off and Emily _is_ boring, and prissy too." He shook his head, then smiled at Bella again, "I guess it's just that not everyone is as nice as you Bells, you're special."

Bella bit her lip and let her arms curl around her middle. Even more of her hair fell over her face. "Don't say that Jake, Rachel and Rebecca will pick on us again, and Quil will laugh at you." Her voice quivered, "And I'm not even a little bit special."

A stubborn glint entered Jacob's dark eyes as he gazed at her resolutely. "You _are_ special Bells, always have been and always will be." He insisted, "Quil's just an idiot, and my sisters are mean." He sighed softly as Bella remained morosely silent, "Bella…" Awkwardly, he moved until he could reach into her and gingerly pushed her hair out of her face with his hand. As she stared back at him, he faltered, drawing back again as he smiled shyly. "Just believe me, okay?" he whispered.

Bella felt the lump already in her throat thicken. "Oh Jake…" She'd begun to cry again before she could stop herself. "Why are you so nice to me?"

Jacob studied her intently, "Because you're my friend, my best friend."

Bella was surprised, "But I'm hardly ever here…"

Jacob shrugged resignedly, "Doesn't matter." He replied firmly, "And if Charlie ever gets his way, you'd be here all the time." He smiled at her encouragingly, "He was so happy when he came to tell us you'd be visiting over New Year, even though he would've liked to have you here for Christmas too."

"Really?" Bella asked sceptically, "He didn't seem too happy, more nervous and worried about what Renee had done this time."

"He's always happy to see you Bells, second only to me." Jacob told her confidently, "Sometimes he just can't show it that well is all."

"Like me." Bella mumbled in realisation, "You're my best friend too Jake."

Jake beamed at her but quickly became serious once more, eyeing her with astuteness that belied his young years. "What did Renee do this time?"

Bella shivered and curled tighter into herself again, "We got evicted." She whispered, "The landlord gave us Christmas but made us leave after that. Mom likes her job at the casino, but its nightshift so she has to sleep during the day, not look at apartments while dragging me along. She's in a hotel room right now, and Charlie told her to send me up here when she called looking for a loan for a deposit…"

Jake was dumbstruck for a moment, but quickly recovered. "That's rough." He said, using a phrase his dad and Harry always repeated to Charlie in sympathetic tones.

Bella pushed at the one plastic cup in the playhouse, black with dirt where it had once been yellow, with her toe. "I think Renee likes things rough." She muttered, "Sometimes I wish…" She trailed off, horrified, as she met Jake's eyes. "I'm so sorry Jake, here I am moaning about my mom and you…" She swallowed tearfully, "I forgot…"

Jake blinked back tears of his own. "I forget sometimes too. I like to forget, it's the remembering that hurts…" He gulped hard, searching for understanding in Bella's face and finding it. "I hide too, when I think about it too much…" He tried to smile bravely, "In my Taj Mahal."

"Your Taj Mahal?" Bela echoed blankly. Wasn't the Taj Mahal in India?

"Yeah." Jacob replied, blissfully unaware of her confusion. "My secret, special place." He glanced around the playhouse dubiously, "Kind of like you have here…but much better."

Bella laughed, "I hope so!"

Jake grinned at her, "Come on, I'll show you."

Bella hesitated, "You can't Jacob, not if it's…"

Jake shot her an impatient look, "I've already told you Bella, you're special. If anyone deserves to share my Taj Mahal, it's you."

Bella coloured, this time with pleasure. "How far do we have to go?"

Jacob now looked a little shamefaced. "It's…It's the garage Bells…" He admitted.

She surprised him by brightening, not laughing at him. "Cool!" she replied enthusiastically, but then frowned anxiously, "Won't the twins still be hanging around the house looking for us?"

"Nah." Jake answered confidently, "They'd be bored by now, if I hadn't already told our dads about what they did. They're grounded."

"Jake!" Bella exclaimed, shocked. "They'll get you for that…"

"So?" Jake replied with a nonchalant shrug, "I always get them back. You worry too much Bells."

"Yeah." Bella agreed ruefully, "I do." She smiled at him shyly, "Can I really share your Taj Mahal?"

Jake laughed joyfully and sprang up. "Let's go already!"

Bella sucked her breath in and started her odyssey to crawl out of the playhouse. "Yeah, but…" She groaned slightly, "First can you…"

Jake was way ahead of her, grasping her round the middle and pulled her out with a pop, like a cork from a champagne bottle. They collapsed on the snow, giggling, a tangle of arms and legs. "What are best friends for?" Jake reminded her gaily.

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 **A/n: Please review. :) I'm so glad to finally finish a Twilight story, even as short a one-shot as this.**

 **If you like my attempt at a young Jake and Bella, check out the amazing NikkiB1973's stories. She's brilliant at writing them at any age, but her stories of them as kids are always particularly heart-warming! :)**


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